t: you'd be better off asking our man Peter... it was hard to tell from so far outside the interactions of locals. my guess is that the beauty standards are not terribly far off, but that's just a hunch from advertising and whatnot. according to Peter, it's very very unusual for most women to go out with no makeup. at any rate, it's pretty clear that the Harajuku set is not entirely composed of the beautiful people, which was part of what was so excellent about it.

js: going to Harajuku would make anyone want to be a teenage Japanese girl until you see how much time goes into maintenance. each one brings a suitcase full of supplies and spend about an equal amount of time posing are rearranging.